The truth about a complex built for veterans and the middle class and how it has evolved through the years to become one of the more interesting and controversial of New York stories.

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Management has two priorities: 1) Making sure money is made, hence upgrading and filling up apartments is their goal. "Amenities" are important in selling the place, though few residents use them. 2) If someone needs medical attention, Public Safety will be there, if alerted.

Quality of life issues are not that important, however. Things like the carpet rule or outsider dogs. These "rules" tend to be ignored, on purpose it seems. So you will see a lot that isn't taken care of properly, and complaints will be met with a creative excuse and a smile.

"Peace and quiet" must be a cruel joke, though this property is sold that way. There can be no peace and quiet as ALL apartments must be upgraded, which includes the installation of an AC unit below the window. Aside from the continual construction about the neighborhood, there is a new and noisy subway extension being built along East 14 st and the shut down of the L line. "Choosing" to live in NYC, now the newest mantra, is a fabrication when the talk is of ST and PCV, which was traditionally quiet, with no construction noise.

Though money was always important, it is now more important than ever. Money rules many things, as you will find.

At this point, 30 years into living here and seeing many things, I can state that Management and their reps are BS-ing us. I can't say that loudly enough: We are being BS-ed. I don't see any genuine change, though the "selling" of this place is intense. Few of the "rules" will be enforced, as Management doesn't want to lose customers or potential customers. Where personal integrity is a hallmark of an excellent management style, this integrity is not seen in enforcing some of the rules.

About those "club cars" we see going this way and that way, and outside of Stuy Town or Peter Cooper Village:

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Save NYC

68 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Too late. It already sank. Rich getting richer, middle class dwindling faster than you can imagine, and the poor getting poorer. Homelessness on the rise. Young and old. Nodody gives a%$*%!. Just waiting to die on the streets, sweep you up, and dispose of you like you are a piece of garbage. All you are is a number! NOBODY CARES EVERYONE! NOBODY! And on that note, have a nice day! (:

Some covetous asshole on the TA fb wrote a very nasty post about rent stabilized tenants being supported by MR and whined about grannies occupying 3-br units at a fraction of the price of a renovated unit occupied by young couple with kids, blah blah blah, though he no doubt would jump into such a deal if he could. It's this type of mentality that is sucking the City dry of all its humanity and diversity. Nobody has the right to destroy lives and livelihoods just because they want to and they can afford to.

I just walked through Stuyvesant Town and I could not believe how vandalized it is. Almost all the trees have been cut down. Nothing but expanses of mud and ice. These evil bastards are like Isis, the way they destroy everything in their path.

I hope Karma comes back to bite them in the ass and then in the throat. I have never felt such contempt for a bunch of cut-throat bastards before.

On first ave and 15th street, they are tearing down a part of the building which connects to the Leasing office. What the HELL are they doing now?There is no rest in this place. Always knocking down something. When is it going to end? WHEN? It's as though they are constantly rebuilding this place. Never any peace and quiet in this place. I wish I could move out of this place!!!!! And that is exactly what they want. WHAT A JOKE! DESTROYED FOREVER!

@March 11, 2:01 pm: I know the thread on the ta fb you are speaking of. The guy got kicked off eventually. I know this particular man is an ardent supporter of a country that kicks people off their land and out of their homes and the US taxpayer sends said country a lot of dough! It's a particular mentality that is very destructive, but we are expected to put up with.

When you get on a bus with the Brookfield TA to fight for tenant rights and rent stabilization laws remember the biggest enemy is Brookfield. Brookfield and Extell (developers getting biggest benefits from NYState and both with big projects in Dan's district) are the biggest contributors to the PAC to destroy renter's quality of life and to weaken and destroy rent stabilization laws. Brookfield is renter's enemy #1.

The top donor over the last month to the PAC was Brookfield Property Partners, led by CEO Ric Clark, which contributed $170,800.

TOP DONOR BROOKFIELD / THANKS DAN FOR GIVING OUR MIDDLE CLASS COMMUNITY TO BROOKFIELD TO DESTROY US AND THIS ONCE BEAUTIFUL PROPERTY.

Next was TF Cornerstone, led by Thomas and Fred Elghanayan, with $170,600, followed by Tishman Speyer, led by co-CEOs Jerry and Rob Speyer, with $168,300. Rounding out the top five was Stephen Ross’ Related Companies, which gave $163,600, and Leonard Litwin’s Glenwood Management, which contributed $162,600.

I think most of us (and I am ashamed to admit I am one of them) who voted for DeBlasio did so because we thought we were getting something better than the little twerp who we had endured for 12 years, not that I ever voted for him. We have been sorely disappointed and let down. I guess we should have done our homework on him a bit more thoroughly. I hadn't reckoned his being such an arrogant, dismissive asshole who is so far from what he would have us believe him to be when he was running for office. Pretty sure he's a one-termer. I'll be glad to see him and Garodnick ride off into the sunset.

"Some covetous asshole on the TA fb wrote a very nasty post about rent stabilized tenants being supported by MR and whined about grannies occupying 3-br units at a fraction of the price of a renovated unit occupied by young couple with kids, blah blah blah,"

I read that, too, before it was removed. What I found so amusing was that the parting shot of the weasel who would kick out old ladies was: "So sorry your love of money has made you so angry." I think shrinks have a term for that: projection! I have to say that remark made me laugh, even though he was obviously quite serious!

It's not just all the delis that sell great Jewish food that I miss, it's also the Greek diners with their bottomless mugs of great coffee and menus that cater to every taste. I miss the friendly wait staff in those places and sitting up to the counter for breakfast. Starbucks just doesn't fill that void. Going back to "ancient" times, I used to love ZumZum (the Blue Max was to die for), Bun n' Burger, where you could build your own burger with raw onion and cheese squeeze and, of course, the bottomless coffee mug. I hate these sterile, overpriced places with no atmosphere and are littered with vacuous, expressionless, iShit-absorbed young people hanging around for hours for the sake of the free WiFi. These places somehow have the ambience of a morgue.

So Tishman hired Fred Knapp to harass the tenants and evict us. Fred Knapp is the name on most of the paperwork at the DOB. Who are these people lurking here since 2007 destroying everything while dan tells us it's "legal" to kill off the trees and middle class

While REBNY, a real estate industry umbrella group, is no friend of tenants, RSA, the rent-regulated landlord's lobby, is a far more sinister enemy, yet sees little mention here. Anyone who watches NY1 has seen their commercials calling for an end to rent regulation laws. In the RSA's ideal NYC, we'd all be paying 60% of our monthly income on rent (your "fair share"), and moving every year or two, handing over 15% commissions to the brokers.

If one needs a good laugh, one can always go to Yelp and see management’s response to those one star reviews. Talk about a robot like, boiler plate response. At least when killing people, the HAL 9000 had least had a personality. Even Siri has more human qualities. And remember, sort by date and click ”Useful” for those one star Yelp reviews. Management promotes Yelp. Let’s “help” them.

"Fred Knapp – Vice President of Legal and Risk Management“Fred Knapp serves as CompassRock’s Chief General Counsel. Fred joined the team at Peter Cooper Village / Stuyvesant Town in January 2007 and has served as General Counsel since October 2010 providing leadership and oversight for the legal department, risk management, legal compliance and records. Prior to joining Peter Cooper Village / Stuyvesant Town, Mr. Knapp spent a third of a century in private practice focusing on every aspect of residential landlord-tenant law. In private practice, he has appeared in Housing Court in every NYC borough as well as in several towns in Westchester and Nassau counties. He has represented landlords before the DHCR, the NYS Commission on Human Rights and HPD. Fred has sponsored a cooperative conversion and is an approved Receiver in New York State. Mr. Knapp is the author of The New York Public Records Guide and the Northern and Central New Jersey Public Records Guide. He has taught NYS certified continuing legal education classes on “Finding Real Estate Information” and “Mechanics Liens”.”

Walked outside my building this morning and saw several empty beer bottle scattered around on the lawn area. These are the type of people we are living with. These are the type of people that apartments are being rented to. I am embarrassed to live here. This place has gone straight down the toilet and never stops flushing.

Feeling sorry for the tenants on FBook. You don't even get to see the lease, the leasing office is so evasive. You get to sign it , see it on the day you pay and not before. No one backs out of it at that point as it is too late. They're so fucking obviously playing all of us.

Someone on the TAfb page is saying that even though she has SCRIE or DRIE they are still making her pay the MCIs. I believe that this is totally illegal. I know people who are on SCRIE and being exempted from MCI payments is one of the benefits of it. Maybe Hoylman and Kavanagh can get involved in this. CR has to be the most corrupt and sleazy outfit in the Western Hemisphere! They most definitely need to be thoroughly investigated.

And someone on Facebook says a lot of garbage. The problem with Facebook and comment sections in general is that people mistake their blathering for activity and we get nowhere. If each of these comments was a letter to a politician we'd be a million times better off but instead people yammer away here as if this forum will impact anything.

@2:04 PM March 19.... I hear that Essa Bagel is moving into the Cooper Laundry space. Cooper Laundry closed its doors today, very suddenly. I depended on this laundromat. We are a family in PCV and our small PCV laundry room is a joke. Cooper Laundry was my "backup" place for my wash. After Super Storm Sandy, it proved invaluable to PCV residents whose basements were destroyed, or had to share their tiny laundry rooms with other buildings' residents. Much as my family and I like bagels, I would have much preferred the laundromat staying.

Er, you can get laundry done on first avenue at 4 other places. WE NEED BAGELS, food, lunch ----places to hang out, places to meet people, places that are not banks and drugstores. Get social people. Not to mention, Essa has been great to the people of stpcv for years. My daughter - now 16 - goes almost every day, sometimes not having enough change and they're always kind and generous and with a smile , even with that lonnnngggg line.

5:24pm, no, it wasn't a joke. We never had to rely on off-property laundromats before the scum swallowed this community and destroyed every vestige of the decent, well-run place it used to be. Decent, clean, functional laundry facilities are what we always had. Maybe you never knew anything better, but a lot of us don't appreciate being dragged down to your standards of living and if you are paying market rate to live here, then you are a fool. A total fool.

It feels like the same no laundry, issues with our own on site laundry room poster just keeps posting on and on and on. Our laundry room is impeccable. The employee who works here is great and building is fine. dryers work and clean as a whistle. Move to our building , move to another building. Use peter cooper laundromat or stuytown laundromat or send it out. It's not that complicated, nor is it cancer. Yes, I've lived here for 25 years+ Move on with your porter and washer complaints. Ours is GREat! ST

2:12pm: well, bully for you. Your laundry room is the exception to the rule. Do you live in one of the buildings that they use to show prospective victims er tenants? I will post as often as I like about our inferior laundry room.

Because the head of DHCR and all housing and finance departments that control all New Yorkers is Blackstone Group William J Mulrow. Blackstone Group who is Tishman Speyers partner in the purchase from MetLife. Cuomo put Blackstone Group in charge of the homes of all the constituents in his state. Blackstone Group controls all housing in New York State. Blackstone Group controls the pols who probably already decided what they will do in June no matter how many get on a bus. Cuomo put Blackstone in charge of DHCR to send a clear message to NYC tenants that the landlord's interests are the only priority of the Cuomo governed state.

Didn't know that there are "model buildings" that they show to prospective renters. Might explain why this week, in our PCV laundry room, with 4 people milling around the only 3 working dryers, a new tenant got very upset and said she was going to visit the residents' office because "this is not what they promised her for her rent". I am sure she would have appreciated some of the suggestions posted here, especially the one where the poster says if we're unhappy, we should move.

we also don't live in a model building but laundry room is fine. could be cheaper but such is life. in fact, might send out as it is really only a few bucks more. that poster should consider. round thick bottle glasses get in the way.

They write to rules to favor themselves and those who disagree will have their mistresses exposed.

SANDRA LEE’S DIAGEO DEAL—Capital’s Bill Mahoney: Earlier this week, alcoholic beverage manufacturer Diageo announced an expanded partnership with Sandra Lee, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s domestic partner. This agreement with a company that has substantial business before New York State was announced a day before Cuomo’s aides said that the outside business interests of domestic partners would not be disclosed under a two-way reform agreement he has made with the Assembly. Senate Republicans have introduced a bill that would require that this information be made public. The Cuomo press office responded by threatening to raise the issue of legislators’ girlfriends. http://bit.ly/1xfMbBz

A fantastic take on the two men in a room orchestrating the Diageo slip through Albany ethics reform that pissed off Skelos who insists it takes “You need three people, (errr) three branches, to get a deal.”

Today I went to use our laundry room at 2 PCV. A brand new (soda?) vending machine still in plastic wrap is standing tall in the room. Never mind that half the dryers are either broken or barely functioning.

10:34 the soda machine is for the dorm laundry rooms, for the students. It is not for the families who do not want it there and do not want sugary syrupy shit spilling and bringing more bugs into the basements. The students want the soda machines. The parents do not want the unhealthy crap near our kids.

Until There Is Silence No More

The Tenants Association and our councilman Dan Garodnick have mysteriously remained silent about a purported incident that occurred on July 12: the mugging by a group of individuals of someone right by Peter Cooper Village, along 20th Street.

The TA is basically done. Tenants can complain, but any action is negligible. The TA is effectively dead.

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"We'll be introducing a new process to identify registered dogs thus enabling Public Safety Officers to clearly approach offending dog owners. The registration will hang from the leash handle; clearly identifying the dog as registered.

"If the dog is not registered by May 1; a summons will be issued at the point of contact. If we learn the dog owner is not a resident, they will be escorted off the property."

Rick Hayduk, CEO and General Manager of PCVST. Letter to Barry Shapiro, February 2016.

STR here: I have been around since the inception of this dog policy and I have NEVER seen anyone escorted out of ST or PCV with their non-lanyard dog. But I have seen, many times, a dog owner from outside, and his/her dog, casually walking through ST or PCV.

THINKING of Renting in PCVST?

Read Yelp reviews to find out what it's like living here. Please note: All apartments are currently "rent-stabilized" but that doesn't prevent apartments from going up to 4K to 6K a month and even higher. How does this happen? Ask our politicians! Fact: Now less than half of the complex's apartments have the old rents and it's getting worse year by year--or better if you are the Real Estate Board of New York!

The Other Yelp Reviews

Yelp can be tricky and bounce reviews for a variety of reasons, like being a member and posting just one review. Very often, however, these reviews hold important truths about what's being reviewed. READ THESE TOO.

BICYCLES, MOPEDS, SCOOTERS, ETC.

Of course, "private property" but "public access" - whatever that means! And if a part of it is public access, do the rules of the city apply to our roads and sidewalks? Or does anything give because this complex is "private property"? Who comes here in case of a fire in one of our buildings? The Stuy Town Fire Brigade?

Hint: Look both ways if you are in the complex. Look on the ground, too!

61.03 Control of dogs and other animals to prevent nuisance. (a) A person who owns, possesses or controls a dog, cat or other animal shall not permit the animal to commit a nuisance on a sidewalk of any public place, on a floor, wall, stairway, sidewalk, lawn, garden or roof of any public or private premises used in common by the public, or on a fence, wall [or], stairway or entranceway of a building abutting on a public place

Banned & Oversize Dog Breeds in Stuy Town

Looks like there is some difficulty in enforcing the ban on certain dog breeds allowed inside Stuy Town/Peter Cooper Village. Somehow pitbulls and pitbull mixes have been registered in STPCV and are allowed to be freely walked about the grounds! Registered dogs in the complex are max 50 pounds. Total, if there is more than one! More than two, it's illegal. It's going to get worse, and, face it, Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village will never be like it once was.

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Read it and Weep

Current Value of ST/PCV

Was 5.4 Billion Dollars when Tishman Speyer bought the place.Became 1.7 Billion Dollars when Tishman Speyer left, with their tail between their legs. Of course, tenants now have to make up the loss.

Ex-landlord

Rob Speyer

1947 Stuy Town Plaque Honoring Met Life Chairman F.H. Ecker (Removed in 2002 and never seen again)

"... who with the vision of experience and the energy of youth conceived and brought into being this project, and others like it, that families of moderate means might live in health, comfort and dignity in park-like communities and that a pattern might be set of private enterprise productively devoted to public service."

I am writing on behalf of everyone at Tishman Speyer to express how honored we are to become part of your outstanding community. We are a business with deep roots in New York, a true love of our city and a great respect for the neighborhoods that make it special. We are committed to maintaining the unique character and environment that have made Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town such a wonderful place to live for so long. We look forward to providing you an extraordinary level of service and attentiveness that will be the source of pride and satisfaction for the entire community.

Neighborhood Recommendations

New to Stuy Town/Peter Cooper Village? Here are some basic recommendations.

Best supermarket: Associated on 14th St. between 1st Ave. and Ave A. The cheapest prices, fantastic weekly sales, very affordable lunches; solid, responsive management, but earthy. Some of the young female cashiers have attitude to spare, though. May be too far for Peter Cooper residents.

Best gym: Don't waste your money on the Oval Fitness Gym. Instead go to the earthy but real Asser Levy Recreational Center, right above 23rd St on Asser Levy Place (near the FDR Drive). $75 for a year's membership; seniors are almost free. Contains seasonal indoor and outdoor swimming pools, ping-pong table, two pool tables. Called by some rich people who wouldn't get caught going there "the prison gym," and you know why.

A Stuy Town favorite is Lenz's on 20 St. between the 20 St. Loop. The way New York used to be. Be careful of unwanted "pepper" in your food, however. Lenz's got a B grade rating and was temporarily closed down due to an order from the Health Department. Bruno's on First Avenue is more upscale, with a greater selection of food items (higher-priced, too), but was closed down temporarily by the Health Department. Stuy Town's own cafe was closed, too! And not because of all the dogs that hover and piss outside.

Gracefully has two locations, but we prefer for its size the one on 1st Ave. Prices are high and reflect the new tenants that are currently renting Stuy Town and Peter Cooper apartments. ("Do you have a credit card?") We like Gracefully's lunch specials, which are somewhat affordable.

I priced the CVS on 1st Ave near 14st. The non-aerosol hairspray was 20 cents above CVS' own website price, and one of the highest in NY. (Yes, I have hair.) You can save at least a dollar or more buying at another place. So beware. Look around for a better deal on all your items.

I love warm Quaker Oats in the morning. Gristedes is not the place to get it, nor is Associated, though their price is less. Look around!

Macular Degeneration Support Group

If you are currently diagnosed with Macular Degeneration, the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary is offering a support group for you. Conveniently located next to the Peter Cooper Village Stuyvesant Town apartment complex, our group offers the opportunity to share stories with other members, listen to expert guest speakers, and learn coping strategies to reduce stress. Our group runs on the first Wednesday of every month and we would enjoy seeing you there.
Please contact Baptiste Nicolas, Social Work Assistant at 212-979-4105 for further information and to see if this group is right for you!